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Rain washes out second day
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We will bounce back: Waqar
22,000 volunteers set to be ‘face of CWG’
India beat France 4-3 in hockey Test
Santosh Trophy
Mumbai regain national crown
Round 2 of Polo Cup concludes
HI, Sports Min on collision course
Wenger ready to fight for Fabregas
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Galle, July 19
The outfield was already wet due to overnight showers and things only got worse due to more rain this morning. The brief appearance made by the sun in the afternoon, which prompted the ground staff to take off the covers, turned out to be a false dawn as it started pouring soon after, leaving the match officials with no choice but to call off the day's proceedings at about 1500 hrs (local Time). It is monsoon season in Sri Lanka right now and the weatherman has predicted overcast conditions for all five days of the match. The Test has risen in profile as veteran Sri Lankan off-spinner Muralitharan is set to bid adieu to his 18-year-old career at the end of it but rains gods are threatening to play spoilsport. The Lankans have dominated whatever little play has been possible so far. Captain Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana struck centuries on the opening day as Sri Lanka laid the foundation for a mammoth first innings against a lacklustre India. Sangakkara (103) notched up his 22nd century while Paranavitana (110 batting) scored his maiden ton, exposing India's bowling failities to pile up 256 for two on a rain-truncated first day. Electing to bat, the Sri Lankan batsmen capitalised on easy batting conditions at the Galle International Stadium to take control of the match. It has been a miserable outing so far for the Indians with a depleted bowling attack struggling to make any impact on the Sri Lankan batsmen who scored at a brisk pace under overcast conditions. India removed Sangakkara early in the final session, when he holed out to Sachin Tendulkar off part-timer Virender Sehwag. Tillakaratne Dilshan (25) was the only other Sri Lankan batsman to lose his wicket when he was dismissed by Abhimanyu Mithun. Sangaakkara's 103 came from 145 balls with the help of 12 fours and it was his fourth century against India. He also went past West Indian Gordon Greenidge and Englishman Colin Cowdrey to become the 23rd most prolific batsman. The Indian attack without strike bowler Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth due to injuries, was at the receiving end of a solid Sri Lankan batting display and went wicketless in the whole of the extended second session. — PTI
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London, July 19 “We have got players who can seriously challenge Australia and those who have failed to make their mark in the first Test will hopefully give their best at Headingley,” he added. Waqar further praised the outgoing skipper Shahid Afridi, saying that he took over the captaincy when there was no other suitable option. “I think he has done his job and filled that gap. He successfully played his role as a captain,” he added. He also has high hopes from the new captain Salman Butt, and said: “He is the coolest of the players in the team and knows well what to do and what not to. I think he would be a successful captain as he has all the qualities to do justice with his position.” Ajmal might replace Kaneria
“There is no doubt that Danish Keneria is the best Test spinner we have got in the team but considering the fact that Australians have got too many left handed batsmen in the team we would use the best option. At the moment we believe that Saeed would be more suited,” The News quoted a team official, as saying. “Saeed Ajmal always tends to bowl ‘doosra’ and that helps get wickets especially that of left hander. It is the only option we are considering at the moment,” he added. He further said that a final decision would be taken during the team's meeting- a day ahead of the Test match. Ajmal could be the only change apart from resigned skipper Shahid Afridi's replacement with Shoaib Malik. Pakistan currently trail the series 0-1. — ANI
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Learning to cope with scrutiny: North
London, July 19 North, who turns 31 next week, strengthened his grip on his Test position a little by capturing 6-55 with his off-spin in Australia's 150-run win in the opening Test against Pakistan at Lord's last week. But the left-hander, who has scored four centuries in his 16 Tests to date and averages 40.2, said that he had to be ready to cop criticism. “That’s the position of being a professional sportsman,” he said. “I don't look at it and be too unhappy about it,” he added.
— ANI |
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22,000 volunteers set to be ‘face of CWG’
New Delhi, July 19 As the countdown to the Games runs faster and faster, the over 22,000 volunteers, who will be deputed during the Commonwealth Games (CWG) to be held in October are all set become the ‘face of the Games’. From addressing complaints of foreign visitors to giving their best in crisis, the volunteers, who will work during the 13-day mega event, are being imparted training at Amity University in Noida. These volunteers are being trained to handle guests, including athletes, official and foreign delegates, with calm and professional manner. “The training involves enhancing their leadership skills. He will gain knowledge and experience which will add immensely to their skills set and competitiveness. The volunteers will work in any of 22 functional areas of the Organising Committee (OC) namely security, media, spectator services, sports, sccreditation etc,” says Ashok K Chauhan, founder president, Amity. The volunteers, too, are excited about their becoming part of the history so much so that they are putting efforts to make their initiative successful. “This is going to be very exciting. We would get a chance to communicate to foreign athletes and eminent personalities,” said Vidyut Bhatia, a final year BBA student of IP University, Delhi, who attends the training sessions after finishing his classes at the college. Their anxiety and excitement for the Games is the only motivation that will drive them to work without money. It was after several rounds of interview by the Organising Committee (OC) along with government school teachers that the volunteers were selected on the basis of the factors like confidence, motivation, commitment, stability and availability of time. The total number of volunteers from the general public is 4,000, that include housewives, retired officials and senior citizens. The rest have been selected from Delhi University, Ministry of Tourism, NCC and NSS. The university has roped in consortium partner Event Knowledge Services (EKS) from Europe, which has designed the content of the training manual. “The training methodology has been specially structured for the Games and the content has been approved by the OC,” Sudhir Mittal, a senior OC official. The Jamia Milia Islamia University will also provide more than 1,000 NSS volunteers, along with 1,000 other students of the university, to participate in the Games. The students have been selected by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. A similar training module for the volunteers has also been developed. The volunteers are also being trained to become dope officials, which is one of the important aspects of the CWG. The Manav Rachna International University in Faridabad is imparting training to 250 students in the anti-doping procedures which includes collecting and managing the samples. Students ranging from various backgrounds like biological sciences, sports sciences, physical education, physiotherapy etc are also being taught to manage the dope-control centre located at every competition venues. “Our training includes guidance on collection of doping samples, transporting them to the laboratory and filling in the requisite form for doping test, which is very significant as it requires enquiring about the medicines taken by the athlete in the past,” said GL Khanna, professor and dean of faculty member, Manav Rachna University.
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India beat France 4-3 in hockey Test
India struck goals through Sandeep, who converted two penalty corners in the 12th and 65th minute, Tushar Khandker (5th) and captain Rajpal Singh (69th), while Fredric Soyez scored a hat trick (6th, 51st and 68th) for France in the first game of the three-match series yesterday. High on confidence after their 2-0 series win over Belgium last week, the Indians began aggressively and nearly took the lead in the third minute but for Dharamvir Singh, who fumbled inside the circle. But two minutes later, India surged ahead when Khandker sailed the ball into the net past French goalkeeper Mathias Dierckems after he was set up by Rajpal. France retaliated back a minute later and drew parity when Soyez encashed on a defensive lapse by Sarvanjit Singh and Danish Mujtaba to put the ball into the net past Indian goalkeeper Bharat Chetri. The Indians, however, were not pegged back by the French goal as they continued to attack. The visitors missed a few good scoring chances with Mandip Antil, Amir Khan and Dharamvir guilty of shooting wide off the target. India got its lead back in the 12th minute through Sandeep, who sounded the board with a fierce drag-flick from the team's first penalty corner, earned after Amir was blocked inside the circle by French defender Thibaunt Blondel. After the change of ends, France played full court in search of the equaliser but the Indian backline of Gurbaj Singh, Bharat Chikara and Dhananjay Mahadik stood tall to foil their attempts. However, a brilliant Soyes made it 2-2 for the hosts in the 51st minute after wrong footing Sandeep. It was roller-coaster of a match which saw pendulum swinging from one side to the another till the very last minute. With five minutes from the end, India took the lead again after Sandeep converted his and the team's second set piece of the day, only to see France claw its way back into the match through Soyez, who scored his hat-trick in the 68th minute from a shot corner But Rajpal broke the hearts of the home team when he found the match winner seconds from the hooter. — PTI
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Santosh Trophy
Kolkata, July 19 Karnataka drubbed Jharkhand 6-1 at the Howrah Stadium while Maharashtra downed Tripura 4-1 at the Barasat Stadium to qualify for the last-16 stage. In an inconsequential cluster II match at the Khardah Stadium, Andhra Pradesh beat Chandigarh 2-1, but both teams had already bowed out with Maharashtra making the next stage from their group. Ruling the roost right from the start, Karnataka took the lead in the 31st minute, but within three minutes, Jharkhand made a spirited comeback through Ravindra Singh to make it 1-1. At the stroke of the half-time, RC Prakash helped Karnataka regain the lead, while second-half saw a flurry of goals with Ngurneilal scoring twice. Soon after the changeover, J Murali struck while J Satish Kumar made it 4-1 for Karnataka in the 72nd minute. Ngurneilal scored two back-to-back goals in the 73rd and 88th minutes to complete the rout for Karnataka. Maharashtra drew first blood through Darren Caldeira in the 11th minute, while Surajit Bose converted a penalty in the 19th minute to make it 2-0 inside the first-half. In the second-half, Anees Koraliyadam scored in the 48th and 62nd minutes for Maharashtra to complete the thrashing. In the inconsequential cluster II match, Duty Kumar Mahato (21st) and W Vijay Kumar (58th) scored for Andhra Pradesh while Chandigarh reduced the margin through Harkeet Singh in the 81st minute. — PTI
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Bhopal, July 19 Following an evenly balanced first quarter, Mumbai shot into the lead after a couple of raids with Alden D'Souza's blinder of a reverse hit from the edge of the circle on the left piercing through a stunned Haryana defence in the 22nd minute. Taken aback by the sudden deficit, Haryana retaliated by earning their first penalty corner in the next minute where Surendra Kumar hit wide and in the 26th minute Naveen Antil hit a weak shot off Sandeep Kumar’s pass that Mumbai goalkeeper Sudhir Dixit blocked and cleared away to safety. Mumbai, who last won this title in 1989, went into the half time with a crucial lead as they resumed an eventful second half with a degree of confidence. Earlier, Tamil Nadu finished third after edging past Chandigarh 3-2 in the play-off match, which also saw Olympian Adam Sinclair being banned for the next edition of the tournament. — PTI
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Round 2 of Polo Cup concludes
Chandigarh, July 19 Vishnu Prasad, the 17-year-old driver from Chennai, won the 1st race in Round 2 of the Volkswagen-JK Tyre Polo Cup India 2010 at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore on Sunday. The racer from Chennai led from start to finish in the 20 lap race as he became only the second winner of the Polo Cup. He completed the race in 27 minutes and 57.043 seconds covered a total of 42 kilometres. He was followed home closely by Sahil Shelar from Pune and Karthik Shankar from Hyderabad.
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HI, Sports Min on collision course
New Delhi, July 19 Stokes’ candidature came under scanner after the Sports Ministry today made it clear that the “No Objection” given to the July 28 polls was conditional on abiding the recent age limitation guidelines of the government. “The age restriction with regard to the President, Secretary General and Treasurer shall be applicable in relation to the present elections,” government observer S K Mendiratta said in a letter to Returning Officer Justice RC Chopra. An angry Stokes promptly hit back, saying that the HI had it own constitution and election guidelines.
— PTI |
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Wenger ready to fight for Fabregas
"There was too much talk and it was very unhelpful to us," said Wenger after yesterday's 4-0 win in their opening pre-season friendly against Barnet here. “I always said we wanted him to stay, he's such an important player, he's our captain and we want to keep him," said Wenger. "It is important to stand up and to give the impression that just because someone wants someone, we won't give in." — Agencies
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Galle, July 19
Pakistan may drop leg-spinner Danish Keneria and bring in off-spinner Saeed Ajmal for the second and final Test against Australia, starting at Headingley from Wednesday. According to a Pakistan team official, the management feels that the Australians have got many left-handed batsmen, and Ajmal along with the fast bowlers would form the best possible attack.
New Delhi, July 19
Arsene Wenger has said he is ready to fight with Barcelona for the services of Cesc Fabregas and said the Spanish midfielder would be at The Emirates next season. Wenger expressed his anger at the Catalans' dogged pursuit of the player and said it was important he stood up to them.
Jeev ends tied 55th
1.
Rafael Nadal (Spain) 10745 pts
1. Serena Williams (US) 8475 pts
Jones stripped of title
Donovan won’t reconcile
Messi to start
clothing range